There’s no denying Brian Karscig has an ear for talent. When he’s
not making his own albums, the local musician records and produces
up-and-coming bands. Here are some of his projects:

Anya Marina — Karscig took Marina from coffee
shop chanteuse to rock goddess before she ever
had a record deal and a single on “The Twilight
Saga: New Moon” soundtrack.

Transfer — The Brit pop-inspired local band
recorded “Sinking, Sailing” with Karscig. That
single was later played on BBC Radio. The
group’s bassist, Shaun Cornell, plays in The Nervous Wreckords.

The Silent Comedy — One of the best live local
bands since Karscig’s own Convoy, the producer put his guitardriven
spin on this bluesy act. Drummer Andy Ridley also plays with
The Nervous Wreckords.

Maren Parusel — A former punk rock singer from Germany who
turned to Karscig when it came time to release her first, pianodriven
pop record.

Republic of Letters — The bombastic local rock outfit got some
much-needed loosening up, adding some new keyboard parts, after
working with the perpetually cheerful Karscig.

Les Gars — Karscig doesn’t just work with locals. He also produced
this Canadian punk group, which Karscig describes as “The Sex
Pistols meets The Strokes.”

— NINA GARIN

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There’s a reason Brian Karscig left the internationally known rock band Louis XIV for an obscure project called The Nervous Wreckords.

And he explains it all in the first line of the first song on The Nervous Wreckords’ first EP, “Nailbighter.”

In it Karscig sings: I’m doing it to do it, I’m not doing it to make it.

After forming Louis XIV in 2003, an alt-rock band that performed in stadiums and at festivals around the world, you can say the Poway High School alum has already made it.

Louis XIV songs, including “Finding Out True Love Is Blind,” have placed highly on both U.S. and British pop charts. The band has opened for The Killers close to a dozen times and even claims David Bowie as a fan.

But six years of playing sex-tinged rock with fellow Louis XIV founding member Jason Hill was taking its toll on Karscig.

So, earlier this year, he made the difficult decision to leave Louis XIV and work without Hill, a friend who has been in every band with Karscig — including the locally beloved Convoy — since they were teenagers.

“I’ve never closed the door on Louis XIV,” Karscig said. “Jason and I have been best friends for 25 years. But it got to a point where it was less about friends in a room being creative and more about it being jobby.”

Karscig wanted to make music just for the fun of making it. And a chance meeting with producer Anthony Saffrey, who was in the British band Cornershop, left Karscig newly inspired.